Cataloochee Valley

Cataloochee (Great Smoky Mountains)
11/10 - 11/13-16
2016 bag nights: 26

This post back in September got me thinking about Cataloochee and the elk. I wasn't able to make it happen until the middle of November. The weather forecast for the Smokies was looking great, three days of sunshine and no rain, highs in 50s/60s and lows right around freezing. The only problem was there was a campfire ban since everything was so dry.

I met JC at Cove Creek Gap at the entrance to Cataloochee valley where we left my car. This gave us the option of hiking out on the Cataloochee Divide trail if our legs were up to it. We then drove to the end of the road. We saw about 6-7 elk as we drove, but there weren't any when we parked. The weather was perfect for hiking, sunny and about 60 degrees.

We hiked in on the Rough Fork Trail which passes an old homesite (Steve Woody place).

Most of the leaves had already dropped, but there were still a few with color.

We checked out Campsite 40 and decided we were glad we were not staying there. It felt a little closed in and there were not many good hammock spots. After a couple of hours, we got to Site 41. This is a much better site, lots of places for tents or hammocks and easy to spread out. This was going to be home for the next three nights, not a bad place to hang.

We had the campsite to ourselves, which was nice. Woke up the next morning to a little bit of ice in the bottom of our cups and pots. After a leisurely breakfast we hit the trail. Our goal today was the Cataloochee Divide trail. We decided that the Hemphill Bald Trail towards Double Gap was the best way to climb the 2200 feet. If we were feeling good, we would head towards Polls Gap and make it a 13ish mile day. Otherwise we could head towards Purchase Gap and make it an 9ish mile day. 

It was another perfect hiking day made even better by the fact that we only had water and lunch in our packs.

Lower down, it was hard to see much through the trees, one of the drawbacks of hiking in the southeast. Still the occasional view was appreciated.

Occasionally, we would come to a place where downed trees opened up the view a bit.

The park boundary runs right along the fence line of Cataloochee Ranch. We took a break here and enjoyed the view. While we were there four women who were staying at The Swag (a fancy lodge on the boundary of the park) came by. They showed us the map they had that showed a couple of trails that were not on park property, but that hikers could use.

In the picture below, you can see the fence line running up to Hemphill Bald. We had decided that were not going to go the long way which meant we were not going to go over the bald. I decided that it would be foolish not to check out the view, so we decided to hike the park trail to the top of the bald and then loop back on one of the Ranch trails back to Double Gap.

The view from the bald was great. Cataloochee Ranch has set up a couple benches and a sign identifying the all the mountains in the distance. There was a sign that mentioned that ~250 acres were placed in a conservation easement, so the bald/view could never be built on.

In the picture below, that is smoke down around the mountain tops.

I liked the look of this tree. I'll bet the shade is nice in the middle of summer.

We then headed down the Ranch trail back towards Double Gap.

Not much in the way of flowers this time of year.

I really liked this tree.

Same tree, different angle.

Another nice tree.

More amazing views.

This gives an idea of the gradient of the area, not many flat parts or gentle rises.

There were some low shrubs with these "berries". They looked like tiny tomatoes, but smelled more like green peppers.

One last look at Hemphill Bald.

We ate our lunch at The Swag, it was very nice to lean back on a bench and prop our feet up on a table, not to mention the view. We were also able to top up our water for the hike back, very nice people there, but a bit out of my price range.

Then continued down the Cataloochee Divide trail towards Purchase Gap.

The McKee Branch Trail down from Purchase Gap was steep, rocky and covered in leaves. It made for slow going, but it was still a great day for hiking.

Back on the Caldwell Fork Trail heading back to camp. There is a stretch of trail that is very straight and partly lined with an old rock wall. It almost looked like it used to be a road.

Near Site 41 is this sign.

Not far off the trail is a truly enormous tree. The diameter at its base was probably about 10 feet. Don't know why it was "Big Poplars" (plural) since there was only one huge tree that I could see. It was getting dark, so I did not explore too much, maybe there were more further off the trail.

There were a couple tents set up in the distance when we got back to camp. After dinner, we chatted with 3 older guys from SC. It sounded like they had been backpacking together for 30-40 years.

Moon rising over the ridge.

Woke up to another beautiful day.

You can see my hammock/tarp in the distance.

Sunrise over the ridge.

The second dayhike was going to be a 9ish mile loop around the Boogerman Trail and Caldwell Fork Trail. The Boogerman trail passes a site with some rock walls and this odd piece of machinery.

The amount of work that went into building these walls is incredible. There was a stretch that had rocks that easily weighed more than 100 pounds.

Evidently, the Boogerman trail passes through a stretch that was never logged, making for some very big trees. Here is one that is hollow, but still alive. For reference, the "big poplar" was almost twice as big.

A rock wall, clearly built to last.

Maybe an "indian tree", interesting regardless.

For a good part of the day, we could smell smoke. It was very obvious on one side of the ridge, less so on the other. The lower part of the Caldwell Fork trail is very wet. Some of the crossings have bridges, many do not. It would be impossible to keep your feet dry if there had been a normal amount of rain. This trail is likely a muddy mess in the springtime.

It was along this stretch that I ran into the first ranger I have ever seen on the trails.

Along the Caldwell Fork trail (between McKee Branch and Hemphill Bald trails) is a "no horse" sign and a very steep trail going up hill. Based on previous Smokies trips, I guessed that there was a cemetery. About 100 feet up, there was a small level patch and two small grave stones. According to the Brown Book, three Union raiders from the Civil War are buried there (two in one grave).

The stretch of trail that reminded me of a road the day before.

When we got back to camp, there was one tent in the distance, but we never saw the occupants until the next morning.

Sunset over the ridge.

A couple hours after sunset, we heard voices and saw lights in the distance. We were a little worried that a pack of idiots was going to set up next to us, but it ended up being 4 college guys (FSU and Auburn). As they were setting up a tent and 3 hammocks, we wandered over. We figured if they were going to keep us awake, we might as well go meet them. They had hiked in from Polls Gap, but had a couple extra miles, since the road is gated at the park boundary. Nice guys, they turned in early and did not keep us awake.

Moon rise.

The next day, it was time to leave. We decided that my bad ankle and his bad knee along with being out of shape in general meant that we were not going to hike back up to the ridge and my car. Instead, we hiked down the Caldwell Fork Trail again and then headed up the Big Fork Trail towards his car.

The trail on the other side of the ridge is very open and was a nice gentle slope, a very easy way to finish.

After 4.5-5 miles, we got to the car, and enjoyed a celebratory beer and one last view of Cataloochee Valley.

A great trip, with great weather and great hiking.

Driving home, the smoke from all the fires was a bit ridiculous. Driving across I40, the minute I crossed into TN I could smell smoke. As I crossed out of the mountains and into the foothills, the smoke got thicker. It was obvious that there were a lot of fires in the area. I also drove through quite a bit of smoke on I75 near the TN/KY border. It made the campfire ban very obvious. We could really use a couple inches of rain.